A plane flies over U.S. Highway 97 as traffic is reduced to one northbound lane from the Milemarker 132 Fire on Friday.

UPDATE 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 3: Fire crews stopped the Milemarker 132 Friday Friday evening and are now mopping up.

Evacuation levels were reduced as follows:

Level 3—Go Now: Juniper Ridge area and all residences on the east side of U.S. Highway 97 north of Hilltop trailer park to the COID power generation facility.

Level 2—Be Set: Residential north of Cooley Road between NE 18th Street and Highway 97.

Level 1—Be Ready: NE 18th, Talus Place, and residents along the west side of Deschutes Market Road.

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A wildfire that prompted evacuations on the north edge of Bend on Friday afternoon brought a furious response from firefighting agencies hoping to halt the fire’s progress.

Multiple fire agencies were fighting the Milemarker 132 Fire, burning in thick juniper east of U.S. Highway 97 about two miles north of Bend. It was hot and breezy Friday afternoon, with the temperature in Bend reaching 104 degrees.

The blaze stalled traffic on Highway 97 and burned right to the edge of the highway, causing delays for drivers heading north.

Level 3—Go Now evacuations were in place between Deschutes Market Road and Highway 97, from Cooley Road north to just north of Fort Thompson Lane, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. That includes the Juniper Hilltop Mobile Home Park and Four Seasons Mobile Home Park.

The American Red Cross set up an evacuation center at Mountain View High School.

Drew Norris, deputy chief of EMS for Bend Fire & Rescue, said the fire was located in Juniper Ridge, which was included in the evacuation area. He did not know the cause of the fire.

“They are working that fire pretty heavily with both ground resources and air resources from around the Central Oregon area,” said Norris.

Trish Connolly, Bend Fire & Rescue deputy fire chief, said the fire was about 20 acres at 5 p.m. It began around 3 p.m. By 7 p.m., the outlook seemed positive.

“I think they’re feeling really good about where everything’s headed with the fire. I think they’re making really good progress,” Connolly said, adding that the fire was “calming down.”

Earlier, the fire was described as likely to spread rapidly, according to Central Oregon Fire Info on X (formerly known as Twitter). Multiple aircraft were deployed and tankers could be seen from Bend dropping retardant near the fire.

Matt Chancellor, spokesman for Pacific Power, said the power company was working on restoring power to areas near the fire, except properties near the substation on Hunter’s Circle. About 1,500 customers were without power.

Editor’s note: This article has been edited to clarify the location of the fire, which was burning in Juniper Ridge, but fire officials could not confirm it had burned in a homeless camp.